Songwriter and music producer Shawn Amos once wrote, "Memphis is the place where rock was born and Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed; it's full of contradictions, abject poverty and riches that only music can provide," but to PinnWorth Productions, "Memphis" is the powerhouse musical they're presenting through September 17 as the first attraction of the new season at Kelsey Theatre on the West Windsor campus of Mercer County Community College.

Lou J. Stalsworth, the production's director and company co-founder, revealed that he's honored to be opening a season of over two dozen attractions by almost two dozen different production companies and promises that "Memphis," with a score by David Bryan, Bon Jovi's keyboardist, and a script by New Jersey's own Joe DiPietro, will be "a show about the birth of rock and roll, the music I grew up with. It has big production numbers, good looking people, and proves that people can try things they weren't sure they could do but who will feel a sense of accomplishment even if they fail.

"In addition to its pulsating score, it's the story of a man who falls in love with music, a specific kind of music, and with a woman who sings that music, but both loves are hindered by a culture clash. When I went looking for a show, I spent hours online checking on what there is, what's been bringing audiences to their feet, what's winning awards, and I found this one, and, from that opening number called 'Underground,' I was hooked, but I love the character statement songs like 'Colored Woman' too," said Stalsworth whose production company returns to Kelsey in January for a show whose title cannot yet be announced. It's listed as "a special event - we're not allowed to say" in Kelsey Theatre's newest brochure.

"Memphis" has an impressive history. It opened on Broadway in 2009, ran for almost 1200 performances, was recorded by Rhino Records, and won four 2010 Tony Awards including best musical. It was shown on PBS, and that live performance of its original Broadway cast directed by Don Roy King is now available on DVD. A London staging opened in 2014 and ran for over a year, and its London cast was recorded by First Night Records with both cast recordings becoming bestsellers.

Its central character is loosely based on a real life DJ named Dewey Phillips who helped develop a major change in popular music with the birth of rock. Here, he's called Huey Calhoun (played by Matt Coakley) and, with the changing music scene as background, the story tells of Huey's romance with Felicia Farrell (Tamika Reed), the sister of the owner of Delray's, a "juke joint" on Beale Street in Memphis.

But the time is the early 1950's, and neither the music Huey loves and wishes to help popularize nor the African-American woman he loves is acceptable to his white society. Huey, an uneducated department store clerk, is fired for playing unacceptable music over the store's PA system and is unemployed when he promises Felicia that he will get her and her music on the radio.

"Huey is not like everybody else," said Matt Coakley who plays Huey, a role he has to commute long distances to play, "because he's kind of downtrodden and picked on and bullied by others who call him odd and crazy. He's someone who finds solace in music, something others can't take away from him. Music is where he feels at home. He fell in love with rhythm and blues, but that wasn't on the side of town his father wanted him to be on. But during the show, he comes into his own and breaks out of all that has been keeping him down.

"He's a talker; he uses words and is charismatic. He says stuff and then makes it happen. He tells Felicia that he'll get her on the radio when he's never even been inside a radio station. But he's attracted to this exotic person, so he uses bravado. He has a dream that he can get everyone to feel and love the music he enjoys. He falls in love with Felicia by hearing her sing, and he comes into the club to see if she's as pretty as she sounded," said Coakley who cites the song "Memphis Lives in Me," the only ballad among the many up tempo songs that Huey sings, as his favorite because "it's everything stripped away and so honest."

"I sing a few lines in Delray's song, 'She's My Sister,' and I enjoy that too because it's intense," said Coakley who has high praise for his colleagues including Kyrus Keenan Westcott who, in addition to being the show's co-director, also plays Delray.

Coakley is making his debut at Kelsey, but Tamika Reed who plays Felicia performed there in 2009 as Glinda the Good Witch in 'The Wiz," but she put theatre roles away for several years while she attended graduate school.

"Felicia is a powerhouse, both onstage and off. She's bright and confident, and I see her as a young black woman who's very proud of what she has already accomplished in her career and very appreciative of her older brother Delray for helping her and being a father figure in her life. Since the show covers a couple of years, I think their relationship does change because she wants to go out and do her own thing and find more autonomy, but Delray does have a little trouble letting go of the reins," said Reed.

"At the inception of their relationship, it's all new and exciting for Huey and Felicia who grow closer and deeper in love as time goes on. But their relationship has to come down to earth a bit more, and she has to think about her career which is so important to her," said Reed who cites Felicia's song "Love Will Stand When All Else Falls" as her favorite because "I can relate to it. It's a very powerful song about the nature of love.

"When I saw this show on Broadway," said Reed, "one of my favorite moments was when Felicia and Huey first meet. It was a 'Is this really happening?' moment, and then we all watched how it played out from there."

IF YOU GO

"Memphis"

Where: Kelsey Theatre, West Windsor campus of Mercer County Community College, 1200 Old Trenton Road, West Windsor.

When: Through September 17; Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.